PUSA ROAD

The Muzaffarpur killing[edit]
Khudiram was sent to the region called Motijhil in Muzaffarpur, Bihar. On reaching the town, he took up residence in the 'dharmashala' of Kishorimohan Bandopadhyay. He took on "code names"—Khudiram adopted the name "Haren Sarkar", He gave himself a few days time to closely observe the daily routine, activities and movements of his target, Kingsford—taking note of his timings at the court, the club and his house.

On the evening of 30 April 1908, he waited in front of the gate of the European Club for the carriage of Kingsford to come. The time was around 8:30 pm. When the carriage came out, he responded quickly, holding his pistols in one hand as back-up and throwing his bombs. The hit was a success and the carriage blew up and started burning. But back at the spot, his quick departure did not allow him to hear the cries of women's voices in the burning carriage, instead of Kingsford's. The carriage was occupied not by Kingsford but instead the wife and daughter of barrister Pringle Kennedy, a leading pleader of Muzaffarpur Bar..

Capture and aftermath[edit]
Since the attack was made before 9 in the evening, even by midnight the entire town was aware of the incident and was in a state of chaos. By that time it was publicly announced that a prize of Rs. 1,000 would be given to anyone who could catch the attackers alive or help the police trace and reach them. All the stations in that rail-route were already occupied with armed police and the staff were ordered to keep a sharp eye on every passenger embarking or disembarking.

Khudiram meanwhile had continued to walk through the countryside instead of boarding a train, and had been walking non-stop all night. Having covered nearly 25 miles, he reached exhausted at a station called "Vaini"(Now known as Khudiram Bose Pusa Station or Pusa Road). As he asked for a glass of water at a teastall, he was confronted by two armed constables, who immediately suspected something upon seeing his dusty feet (without any footwear), exhausted and perspiring appearance. After a couple of questions, their suspicion became stronger, and unfortunately, they decided to detain Khudiram. Khudiram started struggling with the two men, and immediately, one of the two hidden revolvers fell out. Before Khudiram could use the other one to fire on the constables, one of them held him from behind in a bear-hug. The much younger and lightly built Khudiram had no more chance of defence or escape. On his person were found 37 rounds of ammunition, Rs. 30 in cash, a railway map and a page of the rail timetable. Khudiram's fate was sealed. On 1 May, the handcuffed Khudiram was brought from that station to Muzaffarpur. The entire town descended at the police station to take a look at the teenage boy surrounded by a team of armed policemen. Khudiram was taken to the house of the district magistrate Mr. Woodman. The English daily Statesman wrote on the following day, 2 May 1908:

"the railway station was crowded to see the boy. A mere boy of 18 years old, who looked quite determined. He came out of a first-class compartment and walked all the way to the phaeton, kept for him outside, like a cheerful boy who knows no anxiety.....on taking his seat the boy lustily cried 'Vandemataram'."

Meanwhile, after a similar long journey, Prafulla, too, was exhausted with hunger and thirst. On that same day, 1 May, a local resident named Trigunacharan Ghosh, a civil servant, saw a young boy coming his way, totally exhausted in the midday heat at the peak of the summer. In the meantime the news of the bomb attack had also reached that area and the man could easily realize that he was another of the fleeing revolutionaries. Being an employee of the British government, he never could do anything for his country on a personal level, but he thought that if he could make a way for this boy to save his life, he could at least have his conscience clear and make at least one tiny contribution towards his country. He took "Dinesh", i.e. Prafulla to his house, and let him bathe, eat and rest. After he gave the boy some new clothes to wear, he arranged for the boy's safe return to Kolkata in a night train. But halfway on such a smooth road to safety, fate played a cruel trick on Prafulla, after such an initial smile, by a drastic turn-away and abandonment. After boarding a train From Samastipur, Prafulla was to get down at Mokamaghat, from where he intended to get on a train to Howrah. In the same compartment sat Nandalal Banerjee, a sub-inspector in the British police. He at once began to suspect the young Bengali student. He came up and started a conversation with the boy. After a few words from the unsuspecting, young boy, he realized that he was involved in the Muzaffarpur incident. When Prafulla, still unaware that his fellow traveller was a sub-inspector who has just trapped him, got down at the Shimuraighat station to drink water, the sub-inspector immediately telegrammed the Muzaffarpur police station about his encounter, suspicion and the conversation. The instructions immediately arrived to arrest Prafulla. Prafulla finished the journey up to Mokamaghat, and disembarked to get on the scheduled train to Howrah. Suddenly, he saw his fellow-traveller coming at him purposefully, with several policemen. Prafulla attempted to kill Nandalal Banerjee by firing on him, but was not successful. Determined not to end up in the hands of the British, he immediately shot himself dead.

Back in Muzaffarpur, Khudiram was made to give a statement or declaration to the magistrate Mr. Woodman. He was yet to know that Prafulla was dead. To save his partner, and to protect his revolutionary mentors and their entire group, Khudiram took up the full responsibility of the entire operation and the loss of lives solely upon himself. Only after Khudiram finished giving his statement that the body of Prafulla was brought to Muzaffarpur for identification. Khudiram realized too late that trying to save Prafulla was in vain. Even after he confirmed the identity of his partner, and even after they had previously received details of the encounter of Nandalal Banerjee with Prafulla aka "Dinesh's", the British, instead of believing Khudiram, thought it more proper to cut off the head from the body and send it to Kolkata for better confirmation.

Though a failed mission, Khudiram has been remembered for his attempt and martyrdom for reasons more than the attempt itself. His revolutionary attempt, along with that his partner in the mission, Prafulla Chaki, marked the beginning of the intense period of armed revolution against the British Raj which came to be known as the "Agni-Yuga" or the "fiery age". Dozens and dozens of brave young men—many of them still in their teens like Khudiram, became inspired and fearless for a cause greater than themselves and gave themselves up one after the other as sacrificial offerings at the British gallows. He became the first of the revolutionaries of the said period to be martyred by being hanged, and the second to sacrifice his life (the first to die by taking own life being Prafulla Chaki).From #Wikipedia